FREDERICTON (CNB) – A total of $7.32 million has been invested in new clean-diesel school buses, including a charge-depleting hybrid school bus, for the 2011-12 school year.

Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Jody Carr and Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Claude Williams made the announcement today.

Eighty-nine school buses were purchased to increase student safety and to reduce the average age of the province's bus fleet. The new buses will replace older ones dating from 1997-1999. This is being done to keep the fleet near an optimum average age of six years.

Keeping the school bus fleet up-to-date gives bus drivers the best equipment to provide the safest possible transportation for their students. The ministers noted that student safety is a shared responsibility between government and the public and reminded motorists to be cautious when they encounter yellow school buses.

"Our number one priority is student safety and our school bus drivers have helped us maintain an excellent safety record," said Carr. "When it comes to students, we all need to be responsible citizens. Motorists need to realize that it is dangerous and illegal to pass school buses while the red lights are flashing."

Funding for the buses came from the Department of Transportation's 2011-12 capital budget of $313.1 million. The purchase was completed through the auspices of the Council of Atlantic Premiers as part of a joint tender, which resulted in cost savings for all of the Atlantic Provinces.

"The Department of Transportation is committed to modernizing our fleet of more than 1,200 school buses," said Williams. "We are focused on purchasing the safest vehicles possible, as well as those that are the most environmentally responsible."

The new buses are equipped with an exhaust gas recirculation system and particular matter filter to reduce exhaust airborne contaminates. This reduces particular matter emissions by 90 per cent and, when combined with the ultra-low sulphur diesel fuel available in New Brunswick, nitrous oxide emissions are cut by 50 per cent.

The hybrid bus operates on 240 volts of electrical supply and is equipped with a backup which allows it to operate with a regular diesel engine.

The new buses have been distributed among the province's 14 school districts based on the age and number of school buses currently in operation per district. The new hybrid school bus is operating out School District 14 in the Woodstock area.


12-09-11